Another nice day on the Willamette River.

What is the jig you used? Also, how do you fish it? I'm new to any kind of jig fishing.

Seems like Squawfish and pike-minnow might be one in the same, and at least a few years ago had a bounty on their head.  Might be a good idea for a get-together fish tourni.  Not sure if the bounty is still on or not...

http://www.pikeminnow.org/how-to/how-to-identify-a-northern-pikeminnow/what-is-a-northern-pikeminnow

https://fishwithjd.com/2011/02/19/holy-crap-angler-makes-81000-catching-squawfish/

'Squawfish' was determined to be offensive and not PC, so the diviners of all that is proper renamed them Pike Minnow.  There has been a bounty on them along the Columbia because of their tendency to eat Salmon smolts.

Dan E

Mountain whitefish.

Caught on of those for the first time the other day. Can you retain and eat them? Any good?

Noah, I'm not sure if you meant that you caught a fish like the one which Colecontrols caught, which looks to me like like a northern pikeminnow (formerly known as a squawfish), or if you meant that you caught a mountain whitefish. 

Mountain whitefish tend to get ignored and disrespected by trout fishermen, but they are quite tasty and good to eat, both cooked and smoked.  I think they compare favorably to rainbow, brown, and cutthroat trout. And they put up a pretty fun fight.  Try fishing for mountain whitefish - you'll enjoy the fishing, and you'll enjoy the eating.

Northern pikeminnow are also quite tasty, but they have so many bones that they are almost inedible.  Next time you catch a northern pikeminnow, try cooking it.  I think that you will agree that it tastes just fine, but you will also agree that they have way too many bones to be worth eating.  You'll spend all your time trying to pick the bones out of your mouth.  But if you like pickled fish, try filleting and pickling some northern pikeminnow.  They taste great pickled, a lot like pickled pike, and the pickling completely dissolves all the little pin bones.  Pickling is a great way to use northern pikeminnow.

Not trying to steal the thread, and maybe it's an old picture, but you're making me nervous Pete, but what's the expiration date on canning? 6 1/2 years?:-)  I would guess they would be bone free by then?  I've pickled the real north pike (the toothy version) in WI and they do taste great.

Not trying to steal the thread, and maybe it's an old picture, but you're making me nervous Pete, but what's the expiration date on canning? 6 1/2 years?:-)  I would guess they would be bone free by then?  I've pickled the real north pike (the toothy version) in WI and they do taste great.

It's an old picture.  We gobbled down that pickled pikeminnow within a couple of months.

The easiest way to tell the difference between the pikeminnow and the whitefish is to look for the adipose fin. Whitefish have them, pikeminnow don't.

The pictured fish is a pikeminnow.

The easiest way to tell the difference between the pikeminnow and the whitefish is to look for the adipose fin. Whitefish have them, pikeminnow don't.

The Captain is correct.  Another member of the minnow family which looks kind of like a mountain whitefish, but which is just as bony as the northern pikeminnow, and which also doesn't have an adipose fin, is the peamouth.  The peamouth looks more like a mountain whitefish than a northern pikeminnow, because peamouths have a little bitty mouth like a mountain whitefish, whereas northern pikeminnow have a big toothless mouth.

The first time I caught some peamouth, I was ice fishing.  The fish were biting like crazy, and we were running from rod to rod pulling them out of the water.  We thought they were mountain whitefish.  But when I got them home and took a closer look at them, I realized, ooops, these fish don't have an adipose fin, and I identified them as peamouths.  Friends told me that peamouths are just as bony as northern pikeminnows, so I used them as bait when fishing for pike and lake trout, which are much more edible than peamouths.

Another fish which can be confused with mountain whitefish is lake whitefish.  Both kinds of fish have an adipose fin, and overall they look pretty similar.  But lake whitefish have an odd rectangular boxy little mouth, whereas mountain whitefish have a round little mouth.  And lake whitefish are thicker top to bottom than mountain whitefish.

Here are some mountain whitefish:



Here are some pictures of lake whitefish.